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Kris Davis: Diatom Ribbons

By Troy Dostert

To call pianist Kris Davis stylistically omnivorous would seem to be an understatement. While she started her career solidly in the avant-garde circles that brought her into projects with stalwarts of the genre like Ingrid Laubrock, Tyshawn Sorey, Tom Rainey and Tony Malaby, that hasn't stopped her from forging connections with other musicians not typically included in that category. Most recently, she collaborated in 2017 with saxophonist JD Allen and his trio on some tribute performances in recognition of the ...

Kris Davis: Diatom Ribbons

By John Sharpe

Cross fertilization has been at the heart of jazz since its inception when African rhythms met European instrumentation. That stylistic melange is taken to another level in the cultural melting pot of New York City. Being based in the city since 2001, it's little surprise that Canadian pianist Kris Davis has developed an ever-expanding list of associates. But Davis refuses to recognize boundaries, so she has found a way to incorporate their diverse backgrounds on Diatom Ribbons, the third release ...

Kris Davis: Diatom Ribbons

By Karl Ackermann

The virtuoso pianist and composer Kris Davis has been ubiquitous in 2019. Her projects with Nate Wooley, Ken Vandermark, and Craig Taborn have been complemented by her appointment to the faculty of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. Davis will serve as associate director of creative development and teach composition and improvisation courses. The Berklee program's founder and artistic director, Terri Lyne Carrington, is one member of the outstanding ensemble that appears on Davis' new project Diatom Ribbons. ...

Kris Davis and Craig Taborn Live at The Wexner Center For The Arts

By Mark Corroto

Kris Davis and Craig Taborn The Wexner Center For The Arts Columbus, OH October 7, 2016 The two-week, 12 city tour was billed as Kris Davis and Craig Taborn piano duos. It might have been better advertised as a solo act, let's call it 'Davborn' or maybe 'Krisaig.' This is because Friday night, the pianists' two hearts beat as one, as did their sound. Davis has recently released her new ...

Kris Davis: Duopoly

By Mark Corroto

Query: when does improvised music appear more arranged than written compositions? The question is not a zen koan, it is the notion put forth by the sixteen duets performed by pianist Kris Davis and her eight collaborating partners. Davis, who can no longer be labeled a “rising star" of jazz and improvised piano, is a fully formed mature performer. Her dozen or so discs as leader and multiple collaborations with Michael Formanek, Ingrid Laubrock, Tyshawn Sorey, Jon Irabagon, and Eric ...

Kris Davis Infrasound: Save Your Breath

By Glenn Astarita

Nascent New York-based pianist, composer Kris Davis presents a musical journey that may be akin to navigating through a dense forest via snaking trails, rolling hills and dusky caves. With a first-class supporting cast , the pianist's comprehensive works emphasize her luminous imaginative powers. Several movements are fashioned with cascading horns passages, supple deviations and variable cadences amid the conventional dips and spikes as the band slips, slides and locks into alternating rhythmic parameters. Davis' compositional style incorporates ...

Kris Davis: Massive Threads

By Mark Corroto

The first five minutes of “Ten Exorcists," the opening track of Massive Threads by pianist Kris Davis, consists of minimalist repetitive percussive playing of her prepared piano. The Steve Reich-like repetition mimics percussive tape-loops that cease, but the momentum endures and lays the foundation for her solo. This solo outing benefits from Davis' classically trained ear, the follow-up to her first solo attempt Aeriol Piano (Clean Feed, 2011). Her background has earned her praise, writing for jazz ensembles ...

Kris Davis: Capricorn Climber

By Glenn Astarita

Relocating from her native Canada to New York City, pianist Kris Davis has infused her imposing talents into New York City's unconventional, downtown-like scene. She once again aligns her compositional and improvisation expertise with like-minded artists, who frequently transition the jazz idiom into a boundless vista. Hence, the album projects a topsy-turvy and rather oscillating aura, featuring the musicians' use of counterpoint, space, and emphatic exchanges. They mix it up, while also stretching themes to the hilt amid several introspective ...

Kris Davis: Good Citizen

By Mark F. Turner

It's just a coincidence that pianist Kris Davis has had three stunning trio recordings released in 2010. There are the two on Clean Feed Records--Paradoxial Frog, a brilliant joint collaboration with drummer Tyshawn Sorey and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock; and Three by the SKM trio, with Davis joined by saxophonist Stephen Gauci and bassist Michael Bisio. But it's no coincidence that Davis' percussive style and edgy invention is also present in Good Citizens, another clear visage of her abilities as a ...

Kris Davis / Ingrid Laubrock / Tyshawn Sorey: Paradoxical Frog

By Chris May

There's so much music bursting out of saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, and her cultural reference points are so diverse, that you never quite know, as you take a disc out of the sleeve for the first time, what she's going to be up to--aside from going further. The intriguing Paradoxical Frog contains more surprises. Among the first fruits of Laubrock's more or less full-time relocation from London to Brooklyn, the album is a trio set made with pianist Kris ...

Kris Davis: Rye Eclipse & Outright!

By Robert Iannapollo

Kris Davis Rye Eclipse Fresh Sound New Talent 2008 Jon Irabagon Jon Irabagon's Outright! Innova Recordings 2008

Canadian born, Brooklyn-based pianist Kris Davis made inroads into the public consciousness with a pair of albums on Fresh Sound-New Talent with her quartet of saxophonist Tony Malaby, bassist Eivind Opsvik and drummer Jeff ...

Kris Davis: Rye Eclipse

By Troy Collins

On Rye Eclipse, pianist Kris Davis' quartet ventures deeper into the formidable abstractions documented on their previous release, The Slightest Shift (Fresh Sound, 2007). Featuring her husband, drummer Jeff Davis, omnipresent bassist Eivind Opsvik and Downtown saxophone phenomenon Tony Malaby, this is the Brooklyn-based pianist's second recording with her reliable quartet and the third for the esteemed indie label Fresh Sound New Talent.

Conservatory trained in her native Canada, the current New York City resident has quickly established ...